Remo Camerota is an English-Australian visual artist and film director who has been doing art for decades. His current home town is Los Angeles, USA. At just 14 years old, he exhibited in his first Gallery. He found his way into NFT Art very early and love to be an early adopter. He worked with the Who-is-who in the Art world. In his previous project, he collaborated with Photographers like Bruce Flemming and Ken Griffiths.
Remo is a very generous person. His generosity is even embedded into his mission. He is raising funds through charity to change people’s circumstances and raise social awareness.
NFT Granny: “Dear Remo – thank you very much for taking your precious time to answer my questions. I love your honorable mission: Raising funds through charity to change people’s circumstances and raising social awareness. Very important nowadays. But if I may ask: Why is this especially so important to you?”
Remo Camerota: This is important because I come from nothing and know what this is like. When I had nothing, I was a struggling artist and any help that was given to me always pushed me further as an artist, and I have never forgotten this. Without some of these people, I would not be where I am today. Besides this, there is so much wealth in the crypto community, NFT space, gaming industry etc. At the same time, there are still third world countries and underprivileged people living worldwide. When Crypto Currency emerged, I saw it as a saviour to many third-world countries. They could start using Bitcoin or Crypto Currency to enrich their countries, and some countries have started doing this. But it still is not enough. As the human race, we have an opportunity to improve everyone in the world through charitable acts. There is no reason why everyone can’t be cared for. Still, the vast corporate companies constantly grow, yet third world countries are left behind. We can act on this and create a community that can go out into the world and do good using NFTs and Cryptocurrencies as a basis.
So now, I want to give back to communities that need help. With cryptocurrency and the blockchain together as artists and benefactors, we could create DAOs that could help fund entire countries, or even DAOs could govern nations democratically. We are far from that, but we are in the process of trying to do that with the https://www.proofofgood.io/ DAO. This is just one of the charity NPOs I work with as Art Director. So Anyone can join this DAO, do good in the world, like give blood, or help an elderly person by delivering food or donating artworks as NFTs etc.. And they earn points that can be redeemed into upcoming NFTs or Tokens. In return, the less fortunate are helped, and you too are rewarded. This can change people’s lives and your own life. Do good, make money and have proof. We have released POG packs that will help this happen. And we are just at the beginning.
I also am a partner with another NPO called NPACT. I am the artistic and cultural director, and we have a vast space in the Metaverse, which is a point of interest and where we create events. The events generate revenue for the artists involved, who are also usually unknown and upcoming artists – NFT artists, musicians, DJs, you name it. 20% of all revenue raised here goes to our main partners: The Turing Trust. The Turing Trust goal is to give every child in the world a computer, and we are helping that happen. NPACT is also partnered with University of Edinburgh, Astronomijos doing good with Mental Health and Florida universities. NPACT is also set up as a Research and Development institute, so eventually, we will have papers written on all of our partners and events that will garnish the textbooks in universities.
Besides this, I donate much of my work to separate charities to help raise funds, such as Botswana Red Cross through Leyline and Frontline worker charities through NPACT. Also, a percentage of my earnings have gone to Save the children through the platforms Don’t Buy Meme and The Turing Trust through Artblocks.
How did you first become interested in art, and how did you get started with it yourself?
Remo Camerota: I have always been an artist since I was a child. I used to be asked to create murals for my school since grade 1, and the teachers would make a big deal out of it. You could say I was a gifted child and had gallery shows as early as age 14. I was taking photographs by this time, and I went to an art school university two years before finishing High School. So I always knew I was going to be an artist, and that’s what I said every time someone asked what will you be when you grow up. After this, I went to Fashion Design school, excelled here with many accolades and then I went on to do a BA in Fine art and photography and a BA in Film and TV. I learned to create across the board and started graffiti in Melbourne, Australia’s streets. This is where I learnt my DIY ethos, which I utilize to this day. My artwork is a fusion of conceptual, Pop & Street Art created using the latest technologies done in a DIY style that I originally picked up from painting on the streets in the 80s and 90s. By 2000, this had grown into full-time painting, photography, sculpture and films for galleries, agencies and myself. I had already won over 20 awards for film, video, photography and installations, had a show at the World Trade Centre, Experimenta, works in the National Gallery, regional galleries and Tokyo Museum. And also, by this time, my Industrial Punk band “Psych Carni” had been touring Australia for eight years, and we had released several recordings. I played guitar and Keyboards in a unique style, which is still found in my sound accompanying my NFTs today.
Since then, I have created unique works that explored the cross-section of art and technology. I worked and exhibited with Stelarc, Howard Arkley amongst others and went on to do agency work for Gene Simmons, Kiss, Donna Summer, Devo, Gwen Stefani, Fergie, Nelly, Simple Plan, Mariah Carey, MTV, Aardmans , to name a few, and brands like Toyota, Nikon, SKII, Tommy Hilfiger, Hong Kong towngas and so on.
I created the first Graffiti QR code in Bristol in 2007 and went to Japan, where I lived and authored two art books – Graffiti Japan and Drainspotting, which became bestsellers, Drainspotting being sort after to this day and won New York Book Festival. I also went on to create the first iPad iBook and many other Apps for iPad since 2010. Creating apps is very similar in a way to creating NFTs, so I took this approach when I discovered NFTs.
To date my work has been seen in Carrousel Du Louvre Paris, Tate, Soma, Sydney Biennale, National Gallery of Moscow, Victoria, and many galleries in the USA, Tokyo, UK, Italy and more. I also make and direct Films which have screened across the globe in festivals and I have won many awards across all these fields. Some film screenings have been at Hollywood Arclight, Chinese Theatre Hollywood, Cinemas in London, Tokyo, Melbourne, Sydney, Toronto and more. A lot of this work was created digitally, and I have been working in digital art since 1992. I started on a Commodore 2600, then progressed to the first Macintosh with Photoshop 1 and after effects 1. What is so great about this is that I plan on re-releasing my legacy digital art, paintings, and photography works from the 80s and 90s as NFTs.
NFTs – In 2017, I discovered NFTs and continued to bridge art and technology. In 2020 I minted my genesis NFT Blood For Bitcoin and created my first two collections Crypto Pops and Crypto Bots on Opensea. Crypto Bots were derived from a project I created for DEVO, called Devo Bots and was an App for iPad. Crypto Bots also went on to be featured very early on by Opensea on their front page in late 2020.
Since then, I have continued to work in NFTs and have expanded and been featured on many platforms, including Known Origin, Foundation, Artblocks, Don’t Buy Meme, Viv3, SignArtApp, Portion, Minty, Hicentune 2000, Rariable, Opensea, and many others.
Could you tell us more about the story of the amazing Project “20th Century Music Legends”?
Remo Camerota: Ruby Griffiths – from the Ken Griffiths bureau reached out with a request of a consultation on how to make her late fathers’ historic photographic work into NFTs. This blossomed into an exciting collaboration when I suggested that we collaborate and I can introduce my conceptual pop style to add colour and motion, revealing the iconic photographs in a crescendo. All this would be done with stop-frame animation, hand-drawn elements and music composed by myself in collaboration with Joel James. The outcome was the drop titled ’20th Century Music Legends’. The project includes Ken Griffiths photographs of Sting, Keith Richards, John Lee Hooker, Bo Didley, Pet Shop Boys, Adam Ant, Elvis Costello and Bob Geldo.
Ruby also represents Bruce Flemming, the man behind the iconic cover shot for Jimi Hendrix’s LP “Are You Experienced”. So we invited him to add a couple of portraits to the project, which turned out to be The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix. Bruce, now 85 or so, could not believe that we could create NFTs as moving jpegs and even sell them for anything. He got a great gift when the Beatles sold within seconds. This not only did a great project but re-ignited this legendary photographer back into his career. We are now in talks to create more from other photos of The Beatles, Hendrix, Who and so on.
So in the end, what I suggested to Ruby was to couple these photographs with my eccentric, colourful pop deconstruction style and vision, adding hand-drawn elements and stop-frame animation to create a flow of the celebrities’ mood and personality before I reveal the final iconic photograph!. The process allows the original photographs to emerge renewed, reimagined, witty, and contemporary, reimagined for the 21st century, before reverting to their old-fashioned version as the Mantelpiece.
My second collaboration with Ruby and The Ken Griffiths Bureau is Princess Margaret holding the now famous pillow – “It’s not easy being a princess”. This went live for sale in the second week of February, also on Known Origin. It coincided with a gallery show in London opening on the 9th of February, and 20 artists, including myself in this group show, showcased this iconic photograph. An accompanying book was also released to commemorate Princess Margaret and Ken Griffiths.
Open on Knownorigin.io
Open on Knownorigin.io
Open on Knownorigin.io
Which of your artworks are you most proud of?
Remo Camerota: This is a tough question as I’m proud of it all 🙂 So in Random order, I choose these: But Of course, 20th century Music Legends from the previous question is up there: My projects created for Artblocks Platform together with DCsan: Talking Blocks and Dream Engine. These are NFTs that have never been done before.
Next, I would say The AI-Generated Cognitive Dissonance project on Foundation and Crypto Pops on Opensea – a pop fusion of NFTs and Crypto Bots also on Opensea, which are Robot Avatars Skull Blocks – which are 224 AI-generated Skulls on Opensea.
And Monolith – The first 2-hour experimental binaural album to be released on chain in Feb 2021.
Also, my collaboration with the Anthony Hopkins movie Zero Contact, NFT puzzles that have never been done before and my collaboration with Devo.
Is there an artist you would like to work with? Like a collaboration?
Remo Camerota: I have already worked with some of my favorite artists: 2020 with DEVOs Gerald Casale.
As well I worked with two of my favorite photographers: Bruce Fleming and Ken Griffiths – Featuring official photos of The Beatles (Collected by legendary NFT collector Mondoir) Jimi Hendrix and Keith Richards and Sting.
I also created a film collection of NFTs for the feature film Zero Contact with one of my favourite actors Anthony Hopkins.
And back when I was 10, I used to look at Kiss album covers, and then in 2003 to 2007 I got to work with Kiss and Gene Simmons and created photographs and Videos that were featured on Kiss Symphony Album Cover and DVD – Books and other Kiss Albums.
To answer the question fully: YES I would also like to collaborate with: Xcopy, Hackatao, Sabet, Pak, Fewoscious, Trevor Jones … one of these is actually happening 😉
We are curious 🙂 Would you be willing to share any plans of upcoming projects?
Remo Camerota: Sure – I am toying with a new pop 10K drop. I have various ideas for this that are still forming. I can say that everyone who holds any of my NFTs will be whitelisted for this and or airdropped something too. Also, I want to release my Legacy work from my early years. This will feature early works from the 80s and 90s in digital, Photography, design, video, sound and painting. See images in dropbox for legacy works to come.
Who or what are your biggest influences or sources of inspiration?
Remo Camerota: Popular culture, from pop art to comics and cartoons, social politics, new technology, AI-generated art., surrealism, Avant grade, expressionism, and abstract art – well, I guess anything and everything good that has happened in art and culture over the last 500 years. 🙂 Honestly, I am inspired by quite a lot, but my process doesn’t really come from outside influences. During meditation, ideas just pop into my head, and I just pluck them out of the sky. I don’t know where they come from. They just merge into being. The trick is to be able to see them and act on them. I use Moleskin Flow on my iPad to write all these ideas down. Flow is just one long page, and it just goes on. Forever. I have enough ideas for a lifetime.
In the end, I try to get my inspiration because that is when the unique ideas appear, and the ultimate goal for any artist – To use your inner eye.
Is there something specific you are trying to express with your art?
Remo Camerota: I am exploring popular culture, dissecting it and then reshuffling it into new meanings. Sometimes it is highly conceptual, occasionally cynical, fun, whimsical, thoughtful – but every art piece I do has hidden meaning and messages buried within.
Deep Cuts: The 3D Album Cover portrait series: My Mother’s memories before Dementia.
A tribute to Meat Loaf and my Mother. In this series, vinyl records come to life, cut into 3D portraits, in a way like they used to come to life in our childhood, as large artistic objects you could hold, fold-out and feel.
But now, the 12-inch record is lost in a fog of time. This was created to help regenerate our childhood memories and also help my Mother restore some of her memories of these iconic Albums before her Dementia took over.
By using some of her favorites, yet legendary records as the catalyst, this collection was designed to keep her memories alive, as well as our societal, cultural memories, before they all fall into the fog of time. The experimental project worked and helped my Mother regain some of our cherished memories. Even now, five years later, there is recognition in her eyes when she sees these pictures and hears the records. A % of sales go toward Dementia research funds. This Legacy series of 3D Album Cover portraits were exhibited at Carousel Du Louvre 2017 to great acclaim. They are now minted as original 1 of NFTs and stored on-chain for you.
The Cognitive Dissonance collection is created using AI-Generative algorithms applied to my paintings. In this case, we see a painting that has two conflicting beliefs. This inconsistency between what is seen and believed is designed to motivate people to engage with the work. The music, also created using algorithms generated from the images, & mixed with tape loops, adds atmosphere and tone to create a Rorschach of sorts that constantly move, creating the illusion of 1.
MONOLITH: An ambient, experimental soundscape album in 3 parts x REMO aka Rapid Ear Movement. The latest album Monolith is a sonic audiovisual art project, the first 2 hours experimental art album released on Opensea and on-chain. An accumulation of over four years of work, recorded between 2016 – 2020, and created to journey through the astral dimensions of your mind. A hypnotic kaleidoscope of sound from the binaural spectrum. This music can be used for artistic expression, meditation, exercise, sound therapy, sleep and most importantly, tripping out. Built for the quarantine age and celebrating the Mars Rover landing this week, MONOLITH is inspired by the universe that surrounds us.
What do you feel when you are creating new art?
Remo Camerota: For me creating is falling into a trance. Hours go by, and I do not notice. It is a creative meditation. I feel A flow of unseen energy, warmth and joy.
I travel to another place, yet other feelings are there in the moment, like anxiety, surprise and adrenalin. It is cathartic yet enlightening every time. Not thinking about the artwork – it just happens.
Do you remember the first time you heard about NFT Art?
Remo Camerota: It was 2017: I am an early adopter of many things, especially when it comes to creating new and groundbreaking artwork, and I have always worked on the boundaries of art and technology, so after learning about NFTs in 2017, I realized that it was a new technology that I had to adapt and populate.
I have been making digital art for over 20 years, and this became a platform, a new medium, where my digital art could be showcased, and I could create more and share it all. It didn’t take me long to onboard into the NFT space after the discovery. It felt like pioneering to jump into this new field, and being a pioneer in a new medium helps make you a leader in the field.
What is your favourite platform for mints, and why?
Remo Camerota: I guess I have to say Artblocks – Artblocks is a truly generative platform and only has a limited number of artists. But minting there allows the possibility of using code-based art generated every time you mint there. This means you do not know what you will get, ever. Even if I mint my own. For instance, in my Dream Engine collection, I want to mint a particular rarity in one of my own pieces. I know that it will only pop up every 100th time, but I don’t know when. So trying to mint that style one is always a treat. All projects on Artblocks are like this, you just don’t know what you will get, yet it will be in the style of the other ones before it. There are still some Dream Engines left, so go and give it a try. And the Dream Engine plays psychoacoustic sound while Talking Blocks listens to sound, so if you put the two projects together, you can create a feedback loop.
Secondly, Known Origin would be my next as they now allow you to create collections that can evolve.
How do you enjoy the NFT Art you have collected? Do you have a way to display it, for example, at home?
Remo Camerota: I display them on a couple of large monitors within my studio and apartment. They are on constant rotation and also include my own work. This way, I can see how my works fit into the world of NFTs. I have collected over 200 to date and created many collections as well.
What would be your biggest wish for the NFT Art scene? What is currently missing / not fully developed to reach full potential out of it?
Remo Camerota: As said in the NFT Granny Question: More charity for the less fortunate would be fantastic to see a trend heading toward. More companies and artists create work that helps give back to the less fortunate through donations or projects specifically designed for this purpose.
We would really like to know where you see the NFT Art scene in the future?
Remo Camerota: I think 2022 is the year of the DAO. More are forming like SquidDao, SnoopDao, NounsDao and our very own ProofOfGoodDao. I believe that they will start to have a cause behind these DAOs. They won’t just be a cool club to hang out at, there will be real-world utility, and we are already creating this in ProofOfGoodDao.
I feel that NFTs are also starting to have more utility attached to them. Even platforms are allowing NFTs to be scalable and evolutionary. So NFTs now can do more, kind of like my interactive dynamic generated art NFTs Dream Engine and Talking Blocks on Artblocks.
But also, NFTs are now coming with add ons. They are being gamified and utilized to allow VIP access to other things created within the project. There will also be a larger Metaverse attendance and more NFT avatars made that are characters you can use in a Metaverse game. There will be more Metaverse adoption, and wearables will also become super collectable. This has already started, and I am also creating some of my wearables this year.
I feel the 10K pfp projects will slow down, and more meaningful collections within DAOs and Artist brands may take their place.
And as all this lives forever on the blockchain, I feel that in 100 years from now, there will be digital restorers bringing our blockchain works back to life long after we are gone.
Which tools do you use to create your art?
Remo Camerota: What don’t I use is probably the right question. Basically, anything that will get the job done. From the physical in photography, cameras, musical instruments, paint, brush, pencil, pens, marker, paper. Then there’s the digital – iPad with many great Apps, Adobe suite, procreate, brushes etc.
Neural networks for AI-generated art. Code and processing for a generation too.
The total Adobe suite – Photoshop, illustrator, premiere, etc. Blender, Maya or Cinema 4D for 3D. Final Cut Pro X for editing and logic studio for sound creation. Lightroom for photography and after effects, Animator, Character animator for animations.
I also work on a Mac Pro, MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and even iPhone.
What does a typical day for you look like, and what do you like to do when you’re not busy with NFT Art?
Remo Camerota: A typical day consists of working on my current projects, phone calls to many collaborators, checking the latest NFT drops that I want to collect, tweeting what’s going on in my world and other interests, and also posting to IG and FaceBook and then back at to work, work and more work. To be honest, I have not had a holiday for over 1.5 years, but I guess this is partly due to the Pandemic.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Remo Camerota: My teacher in 1993 told me to learn After Effects, and that changed everything in art and film and video, just like he said it would.
In 2003 Gene Simmons’s advice to me was always to be prepared and ready for anything. This also changed the way I worked and captured content as from that moment on, I carried several cameras with me everywhere, drawing pads etc. It’s easier now with iPhones and iPads to be prepared.
As well someone else said to me and also my advice is – Be careful what you wish for 🙂
Finally, what advice I would give to new starters in the scene is: Be yourself, work hard, and succeed.
Is there something aside from art or NFTs you collect?
Remo Camerota: Collecting things is very important as it helps me grow as an artist, mainly if I apply what I collect to my practice.
Antique musical equipment, Keyboards, guitars, Japanese and pop culture toys, Vintage Cameras, Comic Books, Vintage Cars… I also use all of these for further inspiration for my work.
What do you feel the moment a project you’ve created dropped?
Remo Camerota: Usually Exhilarated, Proud, Relief and happiness that it is done and I’m ready for the next project.
Where do you like to travel?
Remo Camerota: Everywhere – Especially – Japan, London, Paris, Italy, Europe, Australia, USA, Iceland, – The world…
- Full Name: Remo Camerota
- Current hometown: Los Angeles, USA
- Languages he speaks: English, Italian
- What did you want to be when you were a child: An Artist
- Education: BA in fine art, photography – BA in Film and TV – MA in creative design
- First Job: Creating a rat character for a Graphic Design house when I was 15. Im thinking to mint this character this year as part of my legacy series.
